How to View Your Instagram Reels Watch History

Are you looking for a way to rewatch Instagram Reels you enjoyed some time back? If yes, you’re in the right place. IG Reels allows you to create a video montage of your best moments and share them with your followers. However, watching other people’s Reels is the perfect way to introduce yourself to new ideas and appreciate their creativity.

Although Instagram has yet to develop a built-in tool to view your watch history, you can still pull your complete Reels history for those you liked, commented on, or shared.

Two Ways to View Your Instagram Reels Watch History

Everything on Instagram is documented right from when you sign in to when you sign out. Some information is available in the Settings, while others need to be downloaded.

There are two ways to view all the Reels you’ve liked, shared, or commented on, but you won’t see those you only watched.

Getting your hands on your Instagram Reels history includes the following two methods:

• Download your Instagram information.
• Access Interactions within Instagram.

Obtaining a report or viewing the history means you have links to all those past videos you liked, commented on, or shared.

View Reels You Interacted with using the Download Information Option

Downloading all your Instagram data is one surefire way to view past Reels you reacted with. You must lodge an official request with Instagram to view your account report. Here’s how to do it:

1. Sign in to your Instagram account on a PC. If you don’t have the Instagram desktop app, a browser like Chrome or Internet Explorer will work just fine.
   
   
2. Click on the “hamburger icon” in the bottom left section.
   
3. Choose “Interactions.”
   
4. Select “Download your information.”
5. Confirm your email address, choose “HTML” or “JSON” format, then click “Next.”
   
6. Type your password and click “Request download.”
   

1. Click on Request Download to complete the process. After this, the Instagram support team will dive into your archives to generate your account report. The process can take a few minutes or longer, depending on how active you are on Instagram.
   
   
2. Look for the “Reels” icon on an image and select the thumbnail to play the video.
4. 
   
5. Once you’ve received an official mail from Instagram, click on Download Information.
   
   
6. You’ll be prompted to enter your account credentials to confirm your identity. Enter the details and then hit the Log in button.
   
   
7. You’ll now be redirected to a new page giving you a short brief about the type of information you’re about to download and a few tips on how to use it. Click on Download Information when you’re ready to proceed.
   
   
8. After the file has been successfully downloaded, double-click on it. This should unzip the file and display a list of the folders containing your data.
   
   
9. Double click on the folder named content.
   
   
10. Scroll through the content submenu and click on the file named reels.html. This should open a list of links to each Reel you’ve ever watched.
    
    
11. To watch a given Reel, simply run the link on a browser.
    

And that’s it. This method may take time but is a surefire way to view your watch history.

Solution 2 – Tracing Your Saved Reels

One of the best things about Instagram Reels is that it comes with a save button. You can save the Reels that steal your heart and view them whenever you want.

Here’s how to access your saved content:

1. Sign in to your account.
   
   
2. Tap on your profile avatar in the bottom right corner of your screen.
   
   
3. Tap on the hamburger icon to open your content management section.
   
   
4. Tap on Saved. At this point, a new page should open where you should see all your saved posts on one side and your saved Reels on the other.
   
   
5. To watch any of your saved Reels, simply give it a tap.
   

Even if you’re not sure whether you’ve saved the specific Reel you’re looking for, accessing your saved posts only takes a few moments, so it’s worth the effort.

Solution 3 – Tracing Your Liked Reels

You might have given the Reels that are worth revisiting a “like” after watching.

Whenever you like a Reel, Instagram’s algorithms take note and keep this information within the settings section of your account. Therefore, you can easily see all the Reels you’ve liked in just a few taps. Here’s how:

1. Sign in to your account.
   
   
2. Tap on your profile avatar in the bottom right corner of your screen.
   
   
3. Tap on the hamburger icon to open your content management section.
   
   
4. Tap on the Settings icon at the bottom of your screen.
   
   
5. When the Settings section opens, select Account from the options available.
   
   
6. Once the accounts page opens, scroll down and tap on Post You’ve Liked. This should open a new page that displays all the posts and Reels you’ve liked since you first signed up.
   
   
7. To watch a Reel, simply give it a tap.
   

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to more of your questions about Instagram Reels.

Is there another way to get my Reels history?

Our methods above are the only surefire way to get your Reels watch history back, but they may seem too daunting and unreliable if you didn’t like the Reel you’re looking for. Fortunately, Reels aren’t removed like Stories are. Unless the original poster deleted them, they’re still available for viewing.

If our methods above didn’t help you, all hope isn’t lost.

1. If you remember which creator posted the Reel you can revisit their profile and tap on the Reel icon. Scroll through the Reels and tap on the one that interests you.

2. Another option you have is to check any messages between you and another user. Perhaps you’ve forwarded the Reel to another user. If that’s the case, you can easily recover the Reel in Instagram’s DMs.

3. Lastly, some users have had luck by asking Reddit. Head over to the social media site and post a Looking for post on r/Instagram.

Can I download my Instagram data on a smartphone?

Yes!

1. Following the steps above, go to the Settings and tap on Security.

2. From there you will see the option to request your data.

3. When you receive the email you can download the file onto your device.

Relive Your Best Moments

Instagram comes with a ton of great features, but there’s no official way to view your Reels watch history. Instead of relying on luck and hoping that those old gems will show up again, you can dig into your archives and look for them.

First, you could lodge an official account data request with the Instagram support team. This method works best if there’s a whole bunch of Reels that you’d like to watch but don’t have the time to look for them one at a time.

Alternatively, you could navigate to your settings section and view the Reels you’ve saved or liked. There’s a good chance you’ll find the video you’re looking for, especially if you’re into the habit of leaving behind a reaction or comment on the videos you fall in love with.

Have you tried accessing your Instagram Reels watch history using any of the methods discussed in this article? How did it go?

Let us know in the comments section below.